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In her role at the Centre, she has worked with multiple teams producing work on climate action, civic engagement and democracy, the Talk Dialogue to Me podcast and other exciting projects.

Karis has a Masters of Media in Journalism and Communications from Western University and a BA in International Development and Political Science from Dalhousie University. She enjoys using writing and media to tell human stories, distill complex information, build stronger communities and spark conversation. She also enjoys hiking, thrifting, comedy and hanging out with her foster dogs.

What is your role at the Centre for Dialogue?

My role is to work within our communications team and in collaboration with other teams and initiatives to write, design and produce the communications materials they need to accomplish and showcase their incredible work. I specialize in writing, content creation and media production, which means writing blogs and articles, designing reports, working on web design, producing our Talk Dialogue to Me podcast and more.

What does dialogue mean to you?

Dialogue has always been a part of what I do, but the Centre introduced me to the practice of dialogue on a deeper level. I think dialogue is a way to consciously set aside assumptions and engage with issues from a more open place that can be much more productive. In an incredibly complicated world, dialogue is a place where we can bring our diverse selves and ideas to the table and find greater understanding and commonality.

What is a common assumption you'd like to demystify?

I think our Western understanding of what is productive and worthwhile is somewhat flawed, and dialogue is one way of illustrating how efficiency and expediency are not the most important objectives. There is so much value in building relationships and listening deeply to the affected parties, and spending more time on these crucial elements actually leads to far better outcomes for everyone. Investing that time up front actually saves time in the future by getting it right the first time.